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墨書 Inktalez
As Mei Ru helped Yun Kong, who had been shot in the back, out of the winding cave, she realized that the mountain's interior led underground. The exit was nearly two yards above the ground and sloped down to a hidden field outside.
When the pale-faced Yun Kong stumbled out of the cave, it was almost dawn. Noticing movement at the cave entrance, several figures cloaked in black quickly surrounded them.
It was clear that those waiting outside were becoming anxious; evidently, their operation had taken much longer than expected.
Upon seeing the arrow deeply embedded in Yun Kong's back, they quickly supported her, and one of the black-clad individuals immediately signaled.
"She’s behind me," Yun Kong weakly pointed towards the cave entrance.
Before her words could fade, a disheveled Mei Ru emerged from within. She had already taken the Elixir of Immortality before encountering Mei Shuang, and its effects were still lingering. Coupled with the treacherous path through the cave and supporting Yun Kong all the way, her strength was completely drained. As she barely made it out of the cave, several black-clad figures respectfully greeted her, saying, "We pay our respects to the Empress."
"Empress?" Mei Ru turned to look at the undulating mountain valley, faintly seeing Dazhao Temple hidden among the dense forest on the mountain. Her gaze became dazed before she managed a self-deprecating smile, "From now on, I will no longer be the Empress of the Great Qin Empire..."
Her eyes then flashed with rage. "Mei Shuang, even if you escape today by chance, there will come a day when I will personally kill you!"
With that, her body swayed slightly before she collapsed to the ground.
---
Mei Shuang trembled as she entered the main hall and sat down at a table. She shakily picked up a brush and spread out some paper. Seeing that the ink had already been prepared, she grasped the brush firmly.
After preparing herself, she couldn't help but look around nervously. Fortunately, apart from the flickering candlelight, there was no other movement. After listening intently for a while without hearing anything unusual, she finally managed to relax somewhat and turned to the first page of the Sutra to begin writing.
Thus, while keeping her ears perked up and concentrating on copying the Sutra, she completed one page as silence enveloped her surroundings.
Mei Shuang's courage had grown a little; after all, she often stayed up late reading in her room. Now, it was just that the space was slightly larger. That said, sitting in front of the Buddha statue with her back against the door still made her uneasy.
As the saying goes, without support behind you, your heart cannot be at peace. Although Mei Shuang told herself to remain calm, she still felt unsettled, fearing that while she was writing, something strange might appear behind her or some poison might be lurking there. It would be terrifying.
Thus, after writing a few characters, Mei Shuang would sit upright and pretend to stretch her back while slightly turning her head to check the situation behind her. Of course, even if she couldn't see everything clearly, she could generally sense if there was any danger.
After writing several pages, Mei Shuang's courage gradually increased. Putting aside the bizarre scene she had seen during the day, it could be said that everything was calm.
Could it be that her eyes had just played tricks on her during the day? After all, this was a sacred place of Buddhism, and with Buddha right in front of her, what kind of demons would dare to act recklessly?
Mei Shuang looked around again; aside from the darkness where the candlelight did not reach, there was no sign of anything unusual. It turned out that all fear came from within, akin to the saying "a calm heart brings coolness." No wonder the emperor had instructed her to copy the Sutra with a "peaceful mind"; perhaps this was what he meant.
Convinced that this night should be peaceful, Mei Shuang focused and began copying the remaining Sutra. To her surprise, she entered a state of complete immersion; softly reciting the scriptures while diligently writing on paper, occasionally glancing back to read and verify each word. After all, this was for the Empress Dowager; making even one mistake would show insincerity and not only waste effort but also bring about an accusation of disrespect.
An hour later, dozens of sheets filled with tiny characters lay before Mei Shuang. The ink on the earlier pages had dried and been neatly stacked, while the freshly written sheets were still waiting for their ink to set.
Mei Shuang wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at her accomplishments with delight. It seemed that maintaining a "peaceful mind" wasn't so difficult after all. At this rate, she could finish without needing Dawn's help.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew through, causing the candlelight to flicker and knocking several freshly written sheets off the table onto the floor.
Mei Shuang hurriedly put down her pen and got up to retrieve them. Just as she bent down and hadn't yet touched the paper, the dim candlelight suddenly flickered a few times and went out, plunging everything into darkness.
Mei Shuang's hand froze in mid-air.
Such a scene easily brings to mind certain moments from horror films, where the extinguishing of a candle signals that terrifying events are about to unfold.
Mei Shuang felt a rush of adrenaline surge to her head, her heart racing as her legs trembled. She repeatedly told herself, "Stay calm! Absolutely stay calm!"
She slowly straightened her back, her eyes, now accustomed to the candlelight, found nothing in the darkness. All she could hear was the mountain wind swirling outside, rustling the fallen leaves, accompanied by the "rustling" of tree leaves. However, amidst these sounds, Mei Shuang distinctly heard another faint noise.
Although she couldn't identify the source of this sound, after the candle went out, it was enough to shatter all the confidence she had just built up in a single second.
Startled and with her hair standing on end, Mei Shuang instinctively raised her hand to cover her mouth, fearing that any sound she made would attract some discordant "thing."
Her intuition told her that the great hall was not peaceful. With this thought, the horrifying scenes from earlier in the day resurfaced in her mind, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. The only thing she could do was to escape the terrifying hall as quickly as possible. As for the scriptures she had painstakingly copied on the ground, who cared about them? If she was scared to death, what use were scriptures?
Just as Mei Shuang lifted her skirt and prepared to dash out with all her might, an extremely unpleasant voice came from behind her. "Where are you going?"
Not to mention how unpleasant this voice was—deep and hoarse without a hint of charm—it sounded muddled like it came from a broken wind instrument, mixed with a creaking sound reminiscent of a saw. Just those three words were enough to send Mei Shuang's soul fleeing.
This was no ordinary greeting!
Mei Shuang's hair stood on end as she froze in place, her teeth chattering as she mumbled in response, "Uh, I... I'm just going out for some fresh air..."
After a long pause with no reply, Mei Shuang stood there silently, the stillness almost driving her mad.
She dared not turn around, fearing that if she did, a monstrous figure with a wolf-like face would leap at her throat. At that moment, she would have no choice but to meet her end.
The sensation was unimaginable without experiencing it firsthand. Mei Shuang felt cold sweat trickling down her cheeks and into her neck, her legs were as weak as noodles. If it weren't for her instinct to survive, she would have collapsed long ago.
Suddenly, a cackling laughter echoed from behind, like a night owl in the dark, grating on the ears and making her feel uneasy. Mei Shuang could no longer hold it together; she crouched down, clutching her head and crying out, "Ah! Who are you? Are you human or a ghost? Get away! Just get away!"
To her surprise, after her near-breakdown, the laughter abruptly stopped. Then, from the darkness came a low sigh that seemed difficult to articulate.
This sigh, which sounded complicated, made Mei Shuang, still in a state of shock, cry and stomp her feet as she questioned, "You sighed! What are you sighing about? It's the middle of the night; do you know how scary that is?"
"Oh..." The voice behind her clearly did not expect such a question from Mei Shuang. After a moment of silence, it uttered another syllable. Then, as if pondering for a while, it spoke again in a hoarse and unpleasant tone, "Am I scary? Turn around and take a look..."
Mei Shuang was on the verge of breaking down. What the hell was this? Even if it wasn't a ghost but just a person, she had no interest in turning around.
On such a night, with such eerie appearances and that kind of voice—if she turned around and encountered a face resembling that of an accident victim, she would surely be terrified!
In that instant, Mei Shuang cursed the Emperor Xiao Luo of the Great Qin Empire and his ancestors for eighteen generations!
Damn it! She thought this emperor had no good intentions; was he making her copy sutras for the Empress Dowager in the middle of the night just to put her in such a terrifying situation?
As if she would turn around! You'd scare me to death!
Mei Shuang cried and stomped her feet. "I won't turn around! I'm nearsighted; I can't see clearly! If I want to look outside, I'll look!" With that, she suddenly stood up and was about to run outside.
Just as she was about to leap over the threshold of the hall with all her might, her legs suddenly gave way beneath her. Before she knew it, she collapsed right in front of the knee-high threshold, her forehead making solid contact with it.
Mei Shuang suddenly fell, her head spinning and her mind a blur.
How unfortunate! She let out a cry and immediately tilted her head to one side, lying on the ground and pretending to be dead.
Sure enough, not long after, with the faint yet heavy footsteps approaching from behind, Mei Shuang felt her hands and feet turn cold while her heart raced to her throat. Oh my goodness, please don’t let it be some kind of monster!
“Hmm?”
Mei Shuang realized that the other person had reached her side and heard a muttered question, “Is she dead?”
At that moment, Mei Shuang mustered all her courage and slightly opened one eye. Through the narrow slit, aided by the faint moonlight outside, she could hardly believe her eyes. The figure squatting in front of her was the bizarre statue she had seen during the day.
This was absolutely terrifying!
When did this statue come to life and walk down from the altar?
Recalling the moving eyeballs and the slightly curled lips, Mei Shuang's heart raced as she suddenly understood that the statue was not a sculpture at all, but— a living person!
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